Inside the room, Hayes was sound asleep. He did not wake up to respond, and Rowe was not expecting him to.

~*~

Rowe stood in front of Demetre Pritchard’s home. It was not what she expected. His home was nice. Very nice. However, Rowe was expecting something obnoxiously grand. Demetre Pritchard, after all, was the wealthiest man in Colorful, or one of them, at least. Her curiosity about Demetre Pritchard, the man, not the employer, was piqued.

Rowe made her way to the front door and gave it a knock. A few seconds later, the door was opened and Rowe was greeted by a very distinguished-looking older gentleman.

“Ms. Smith?” he inquired.

“Miss Smith.” she responded.

“I’m Demetre Pritchard. Welcome to my home.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Pritchard.” Rowe said as they shook hands.

“Just Demetre is fine. My office is right this way.” He directed.

“I’m home alone at the moment. My children are at school, so I’ve got to play the host all by my lonesome.” Demetre said as he walked with Rowe to his office.

“Please, have a seat, Miss Smith.”

Demetre’s office was massive, yet warm and inviting. There was his desk, of course; a table for working, or meals perhaps. There was also a sitting area. Rowe loved the amount of natural light his office captured.

“Would you like some coffee? I made it myself and it’s not too bad.”

Rowe sort of smiled at Demetre’s offer.

“No. Thank you so much for offering, though.”

Rowe was a bit caught off guard by Demetre’s kindness. She was expecting to be in the presence of a mean snob with a major superiority complex, but Demetre, so far, came across as the complete opposite.

Demetre made his way to the sitting area and took a seat diagonal from Rowe. He casually crossed his legs, leaned back, and rested his arm on the back of the sofa.

“Now then, I suppose you’re wondering why a client that’s looking for someone to be responsible for his children would ask to meet with someone who’s resume shows no indication of having that experience.” Demetre began.

“To answer your question, I can’t rightly say if I do or not as I haven’t had the opportunity to deal with children on a regular basis. But, just like with adults, it all comes down to personality, right? That’s what actually determines how well one gets along with others, don’t you think?”

“Thank you, Rowe.” He started. “What I want … what I need is someone that can bring a little sunshine back into this house. Working as my personal assistant IS in the job description, but more than anything, I need someone that can liven things up around here.”

“I wanted to meet with you because your employment with Assistance Resources, Inc. shows tremendous stability. I noticed that several of your assignments were extended on multiple occasions due to your exemplary work performance. You have never asked to end an assignment early. You’ve seen every assignment through to the very end.”

“I need someone that’s not going to bail on us and based on your resume, you fit that criteria.”

“Thank you for sharing that with me, Demetre. I spent all morning wondering what the reason or reasons for your request to interview me were. But … I don’t think I’m the one–”

Demetre cut her off. “You are the one, Rowe. I’ve looked into your eyes. Your eyes are very earnest. My gut tells me that you are the one that can handle this job.”

“Umm… Demetre, I can’t–”

“Please, Rowe. You are the only candidate that Assistance Resources has sent that I feel sure about.” Demetre seemed almost desperate.

Rowe felt something weird wash over her. The weirdness wasn’t uncomfortable, but it wasn’t good either. Could it be that she thought Demetre was asking too much of her – too much of anyone? Could it be that she wasn’t as capable as she seemed? What was this feeling?

Demetre broke Rowe’s train of thought.

“How about this? Why don’t you stay for a weekend? Consider it a working interview. You can meet my children and we can go over my expectations for you as my personal assistant.”

“Uh…” was all Rowe could manage to mutter.

“Just give it some thought.” Demetre stood up. “I’ll contact Ms. McNamara and give her some dates so the two of you can coordinate–” Demetre stopped himself and looked at Rowe. “Well, that’s if you accept the offer, of course.”

“Accept the offer?” Rowe was out of it.

“Yes. I’ll be presenting an offer to Ms. McNamara.” Demetre paused. “Would you like to accompany me for lunch?”

“Lunch?” Things were moving at a pace much faster than Rowe could follow. This was a very unexpected turn of events. “Ah … no … if there’s nothing else, I should probably get going.”

“I see.” Demetre sounded rather disappointed. “Well, thank you so much for giving me your time.”

“Thank you for expressing an interest in me as a candidate.”

“I’ll make sure that Ms. McNamara gets in touch with you. Let me see you out.”

Demetre and Rowe leave his office and walk towards the front door. When they arrive at the door, Rowe turns to Demetre.

Previously: Donella Keohane met homeowner and roommate seeker, Galen Veeravalli. Donella was pleased with the house and the neighborhood. Galen seemed like a nice enough guy, but he had a rather unusual request.

“Ah. Umm… I don’t think I’m quite following you here…”

“T-To be more precise, I’d want you to be naked as well…”

“I’m sorry. If you can’t do it, it really is fine. I’ll just continue to search for someone who will listen to my request.”

“Well, you’ve really surprised me.”

“Just to make sure – we’re not talking about sex, right?”

“NO! I could never!” Galen was horrified at the thought.

“Never?”

“No. And I wouldn’t touch. I wouldn’t want you to touch me either.” Galen takes a deep breath. ”I just wanted to make my feelings clear.” He assured.

“So, just looking? And naked?”

“Yes.”

“Wait. Let me think about this.” Donella said.

Outside, Donella’s gears were turning. “§400 a month. It’s §400 a month.” She began. “I could last two years on what I have in the bank alone.”

The internal dialogue continued for a few more minutes. “There’s no way in hell I’d find a place as great as this for §400 anywhere else.” She thought even harder. “He did say it didn’t involve having sex.”

“I’ve decided! I’ll do it!! I’ll live here!!!”

“§400 and you pick up the utilities!”

“And you have to keep your promise. Just looking. And no trying to find out my personal circumstances.”